When Women Lead

The 2016 election illuminated the challenges that American women face in running for federal office. Not only did the first woman presidential candidate from a major political party lose, the United States made no progress in increasing the number of women in Congress.[1] Two years earlier, in 2014, women had surpassed more than 100 seats for the first time in history[2]; a symbolic milestone in the long struggle for women’s equality in US government. Yet it will take more than century at our current rate for our legislature to achieve equal representation.[3]

Statistics conveyed by organizations like the Center for American Women in Politics[4] and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research highlight this disparity: women comprise roughly 51 percent of the population and 53 percent of the electorate but only 20 percent of Congress. Women are not the only constituency impacted by unequal representation – our entire policymaking process suffers.

“We need to have more women in Congress — we need more consensus-builders, we need people who will listen more, who are less ego-driven and partisan. I really believe if you had 51 percent women in Congress, the whole dynamic would change.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Since 2000, Rachel’s Network has made the case that gender disparity in government not only stymies equality, it has serious implications for environmental policy as well.

In previous iterations of When Women Lead (in 2003 and 2011), we analyzed the voting records of federal legislators going as far back as 1983 using League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Environmental Scorecard data. We found that women in Congress vote for legislation supporting clean air, clean water, renewable energy, climate action, and public health much more often than their male counterparts (and similarly vote more often against legislation that would roll back these protections).

This update brings our analysis up to the present. After comparing annual LCV scores each year from 2006-2015, we again found that women legislators vote for environmental protections more often than their male counterparts in both the House and Senate.

Climate change, pollution, food and energy insecurity, chemical safety, and biodiversity loss have become urgent global concerns that threaten lives and livelihoods in the US. If we want to make progress on protecting the environment and public health, we should help elect more women to public office, and support them during their tenure.

In a 2016 poll from the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of women said that the environment was important to them in the next election, compared to 47 percent of men. Pew also found that women are significantly more likely than men to say climate change is a serious problem by a margin of 17 points.

Women’s Environmental Voting Records in the House of Representatives

Since 2006, women in the House of Representatives have consistently outvoted their male colleagues on environmental protection. The average LCV score of women in the House over the ten year period was 69 compared to 44.6 among men. Women in the House of Representatives also outscored men in the House every year over the ten-year period studied.

Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced legislation that would hire veterans for green jobs, secured grants for energy efficiency and STEM education, and became a founding member of the Safe Climate Caucus in 2013.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) joined the House Climate Solutions Caucus in 2015 to develop policies addressing climate change. She also introduced legislation that calls for coral reef conservation in the face of ocean acidification, The Conserving Our Reefs and Livelihoods (CORAL) Act of 2016.

Women’s Environmental Voting Records in the Senate

The average LCV score of women Senators from 2006-2015 was 70.6 compared to 48 from their male counterparts. Women Senators also outscored men in the Senate every year over the ten-year period studied.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Former Senator Olympia Snowe‘s (R-ME) matching lifetime LCV scores of 65 put them near the 10-year average for all women senators. Both women voted for public land protections, water conservation, clean energy and climate change funding, and more.

In April 2015, President Obama signed Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-NH) bipartisan legislation, the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 (a bill she co-sponsored with Rob Portman, R-OH) in 2013.

The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 marked the first time the Senate passed a comprehensive energy bill since the Bush Administration. It was led by two women from across the aisle: Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

“We’ve got to get more women to run. We need to be strategic and identify women to run in open seats at every level of leadership. And once those women are recruited, we need to make sure that they have the support, financial and otherwise, to be successful.”
Debbie Walsh, Director, Center for American Women and Politics

Solutions

We can close the gender gap and make a difference for the environment by following these suggestions from fellow advocates:

About Rachel’s NetworkRachel’s Network is a vibrant community of women at the intersection of environmental advocacy, philanthropy, and women’s leadership. With a mission to promote women as agents of change dedicated to the stewardship of the earth, we meet with cutting-edge thinkers, build productive alliances, and connect with savvy, like-minded women to strengthen our leadership and impact.

About Rachel’s Action Network

Rachel’s Action Network (RAN), a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization, is an advocacy resource for women who want to translate their philanthropic giving into political impact. Our programs empower women leaders to influence the political process and make their voices heard on the issues they care about.